Manufacturer

Quick Overview

Pianos Virtual Instrument

Overview

After two years of recording, editing, and programming, EastWest and Quantum Leap proudly present the most detailed collection of the world's finest grand pianos ever recorded in one of the 'temples of sound', EASTWEST STUDIOS (more RIAA certified platinum and gold records awarded than any other recording studios) with 3 mic positions for each piano.

This virtual instrument includes four of the world's finest grand pianos: a Bechstein D-280, Steinway D, Bösendorfer 290, and Yamaha C7. The PLAY interface includes impulses from the same hall the producers used to record Symphonic Orchestra and Symphonic Choirs so the pianos can blend with those collections.

EastWest/Quantum Leap Pianos Gold Edition, which provides only the player's perspective mics and 16-bit samples, is available for users with less powerful systems. A low-cost upgrade path is available for users of the Gold Edition who wish to move up to the Full Edition.

Additional close mics version engineered by KEN SCOTT(Elton John, Supertramp, David Bowie, Beatles)

Key Features

The most detailed piano recordings - EVER!

Load any piano or mic position individually (each piano is approx. 60Gbs)

3 positions are included per piano for maximum flexibility

10-18 velocities per note of sustain and sustain with pedal

8-12 velocities per note of repetitions and repetitions with pedal

5-8 velocities of soft pedal and soft pedal with sustain pedal

16 velocity staccato on every piano

Repetition samples taken from 180 BPM performances for a TRUE repetition sound and not simply an alternate take.

Software detects true repetitions

Resonance - pedal resonance recorded for every note at multiple velocities, as well as with the soft pedal down

“This is not just a Virtual Piano collection, it's a masterpiece. It's love at first touch. When I first heard it, I had to play it, and I fell in love. WOW!!”

— Teddy Riley

“Quantum Leap Pianos is the best piano software available today. The recording quality and playablity is fantastic and these are the only digital piano sounds they faithfully reproduce the resonances of a well tuned piano.”

— David Newman

“The Quantum Leap samples have that rare ability to inspire creative thinking. Always somethings I want out of sounds. To lead me somewhere, to let myself go.”

— Thomas Newman

“Having new sounds at my fingertips is always an inspiration and these new PLAY plug-ins have plenty of great sounds to choose from.”

— James Newton Howard

“Quantum Leap Pianos is the most detailed and best sounding collection of virtual pianos I have ever used. The PLAY interface gives me a ton of control and flexibility, but it's also really easy to use which allows me to experiment and get the sound I want quickly.”

— Steve Jablonsky

“The entire line of Quantum Leap instruments are an essential part of my composing rig. The sounds are impeccable and naturalistically captured while the ease of use and the power of the new PLAY engine makes the instruments top of their field.”

— Brian Tyler

Recording Magazine

In summation, these are without question the most gorgeous sounding sampled pianos I've ever heard. The greatest accomplishment, in my view, is the way the room sound was captured. Even when using only the Player position I found it almost unneccessary to invoke the built-in convolution reverb, which is amazing in and of itself.

If you're looking for the most authentic sounding sampled grand pianos available at this time, and have a system that can handle it, Quantum Leap Pianos is a must-consider. Just make sure you have the latest vesion - and a computer that is ready for it!

Sound On Sound Magazine - “Superb”

Piano sound being such a personal thing, it‘s hard to predict which way players might jump if asked to choose between QL Pianos' instruments. Whatever your preference, it's clear that all four are very good sampled pianos, and since they're sold as a bundle, buyers will be spoiled for choice!

Editing the 68,000 samples in this library took four people eight months, and I bet pianist John Sawoski‘s fingers are still aching!

The ultimate test of whether all the effort was worth it comes when a musician sits down to play the instruments, and this musician spent many happy hours playing the ‘fab four’ (to coin a phrase) pianos included in this world-beating collection.

This collection of four superb instruments raises the bar for sampled grand piano playability without hiking the price too high.

Keyboard Magazine

The new meaning of heavyweight. Players agreed that EastWest/Quantum Leap has by far the most detailed and biggest-sounding pianos of the bunch. "The dead center of the Bosendorfer's dynamic range sings out for a long time," noted Fortner, "exactly like the real thing, and the nine extra notes below bottom A [a famous feature of the real thing] are just thunderous." Richard Leiter said, "This sounds like a goodrecording of a good piano. It makes me want to play late 19th Century classical - if I could!" Aikin added, "This'd be loverly for Chopin, but not the patch you'd load for Bach ... or Little Richard." Trying the Steinway, Aikin said, "I'd sit down and play this for pleasure over the Bosendorfer. It's very lively, with just the right combination of depth and brilliance." He was even happier with the Bechstein: "This makes me want to play Mozart. There's a nice singing quality and melodic projection over chords. I have a sense of comfort here, even more than with the Steinway." The Bechstein was also Fortner's favorite for his R&B-derived playing style: "Lean into it, and it doesn't go quite as far as the Yamaha, but the bell-like harmonics you want for pop come forward. Lean back, and it's brooding and mellow. Gorgeous." EastWest/Quantum Leap Pianos stands out because it's the biggest most ambitious sampled piano project ever, with the sound quality to prove it. You'll need a bad-ass computer to play the full-size presets with abandon, but if you have one - wow!

Pianos Virtual Instrument

Interface

This VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT combines intuitive handling with excellent sound quality, and functions as a plug-in instrument, without the need for a sampler.

PLAY is a 64-bit (with 32-bit compatibility) Advanced Sample Engine. PLAY is Included with all newEASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP Virtual (software) Instruments.

FEATURES

PLAY includes custom designed virtual instruments that look as beautiful as they sound

Interface designed to eliminate clutter, including only the controls needed for each individual virtual instrument

Load MORE thanks to 64-bit support

64-bit support allows you to load many more instruments and voices, limited only by your system RAM (32-bit support is included also)

While most high-end computers will support 16Gb, a very small set of high-performance enterprise computers (with Microsoft Vista Ultimate) can already use 128Gb of RAM. As hardware develops, the theoretical limit is 17,179,869,184 gigabytes = 16 exabytes, or 17 billion gigabytes!

Networking Support*

If you still need more power, our built-in NETWORK CONTROL allows you to load instruments on other machines controlled from your host computer

No more trips back and forth between computers, no more KVM switching when loading projects

No need to buy additional software

The PLAY system is a professional fully integrated solution for those with the most demanding production requirements

All instruments are listed in one browser

Easy to use browser displays all of your instrumentsFavorites section to group the instruments you use mostPreview your instrument of choice in an easy-to-use column viewerLoad instruments into one instance to take advantage of your sequencer's "instrument tracks", or many if you so desire.Interface automatically changes to display current instrument

Articulations

Forget browsing through complicated patch names: pick the instrument and playTurn on/off articulations as you wishArticulations list also serves as reference for all expressions within the instrument (no need to look up key-switches in charts)Save your favorite configuration for quick retrieval

Legato Detection

PLAY senses legato and repetitive playing and responds accordingly

Stereo Handling

PLAY allows the user to manipulate stereo samples in very useful waysStereo Swap allows the user to instantly swap the left and right channelsMono from left , Mono from right, or Mono Sum allow for instant conversion from stereo to mono

Effects Engine

The best sounding and most powerful effects engine out there, built from the ground up for the highest possible qualityReverb section includes multiple impulse responses from halls, and the famous EASTWEST Studiosand live chambers (more RIAA certified Platinum and Gold records awarded than any other studio)The smoothest filters you'll ever hearSpecialized effects including the first Artificial Double Tracking (ADT) software available

Playback Engine

Highest quality resampling engineBuilt from the ground up to create the most intuitive instruments possible. Allowed us to design instruments every step of the way without compromise

Security system

Authorize purchased instruments easily using the industry standard iLok security systemOffers complete portability, take your plugin anywhere you want, use it on any computerEasy to authorize and manage (up to 100 authorizations on one key)

Supported Platforms

AU, VST, Standalone, Intel Mac, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, 64-bit, 32-bitNatively supported in all major hosts on all major operating systems - PLAY no matter what your platformMore native support than any other plug-inStandalone: PLAY as many instruments as your computer can handle in one application

SUMMARY

PLAY isn't just a sampler, the PLAY SYSTEM is a professional fully integrated sample playback software solution for those with the most demanding production requirements

Offers native support for more platforms than any other software engineNetwork support* for large, expandable systemsThe latest in technology (64-bit, supports next generation operating systems)The highest sound quality (ground-up effects, highest quality interpolation)The best virtual instruments from the multiple award-winning EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP producersThe most intuitive controls, custom designed for each libraryComplete portability

*This feature will be available after release as a free download for all registered users.

Included for both PC and Mac:

32-bit standalone and plug-in versions included.64-bit PC VST (host must support 64-bit VST plugins) and standalone versions included.Check the following compatibility chart for availability of other 64-bit versions and updates.

Supported Interfaces

PC: VST™, ASIO™, RTAS™Mac: VST™, Audio Units™, Core Audio™, RTAS™

EASTWEST PLAY Host/Sequencer Compatibility Matrix

Supported Host

MacOS X(Intel)

WindowsXP(32-bit)

WindowsXP(64-bit)

Windows8, 7, Vista(32-bit)

Windows8, 7, Vista(64-bit)

Required Version

Standalone

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Ableton Live

YES

YES

YES

YES7

6.07 or higher

Cubase/Nuendo

YES

YES

YES1

YES

YES1

7 or higher

FL Studio

YES

YES5

YES

YES5

7 or higher

GarageBand

YES

3 or higher

Logic

YES2

7.2 or higher

Performer

YES2

6.02 or higher

Pro Tools3

YES

YES

YES

7.4 to 10

Pro Tools 113

YES

YES

YES6

11

Sibelius

YES4

YES

YES

6.0 or higher8

Sonar

YES

YES

YES

YES

6.2 or higher

VE Pro

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

4.0.54 or higher

Studio One

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

2.0 or higher

Reaper

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

3.0 or higher

1: Cubase/Nuendo 4.1 or later are required as 64-bit hosts. Cubase 6 and lower users will have to usePLAY 3.0.47. Steinberg fixed the issue in Cubase 7 if you wish to use PLAY 4.

2: DAE (RTAS in Digital Performer and Logic) is not supported at this time.